proverb
n : a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important
fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
[syn: adage, saw, byword]
Proverb
a trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus
rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root
meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isa.
14:4; Hab. 2:6; "dark saying" in Ps. 49:4, Num. 12:8. Ahab's
defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad,
"Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he
that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial
saying (1 Kings 20:11).